Lebanon is set to unveil a Gulf-backed investment in its digital sector in the coming weeks, the country's Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadi has said, as the war-ravaged country seeks to revive its battered economy.
While Gulf countries have re-engaged with Lebanon after years of distance due to Hezbollah’s influence over Lebanese politics, many have tied financial support to comprehensive reforms and political conditions.
Qatar broke this approach last month when it announced it would provide Lebanon with about $434 million in financial support, most of it aimed at the country's ailing energy sector. Qatar has also been providing the Lebanese army with grants for fuel and salaries.
“We are going to start with a project that has to do with developing a number of digital services, and we will announce the investor from the Gulf at the right time,” Mr Shehadi told The National in an interview in Kuwait during the General Assembly of the Digital Co-operation Organisation (DCO), an intergovernmental body established in 2020 to promote global digital co-operation.
He said the announcement would be made “hopefully in the next few weeks”, adding that it would be a Gulf state, without specifying which one.
Lebanon needs foreign funds to help meet a huge reconstruction bill from the 2024 war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, in which Israeli air strikes flattened large areas of the country. Iran-backed Hezbollah has been severely weakened following its war with Israel. Both the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have been working to repair Beirut’s ties with regional neighbours.
Mr Shehadi, who is also the Minister of Displaced, said Lebanon was not seeking handouts. “What we are looking for are partnerships and investments. And these are opportunities for our partners to make money and to be part of a national transformation,” he explained.
“It's win-win,” he added, noting that there was interest in Lebanon’s digital sector and that the government aimed to ensure any partnerships were transparent, competitive and aligned with the country’s national agenda.
“We are offering talent. We are offering a platform for doing business on a regional scale. We are offering access to a network of entrepreneurs and innovators globally, because the Lebanese are a global force when it comes to technology,” said Mr Shehadi.
Before heading to Kuwait, Mr Shehadi was at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, where he met with many of his Arab counterparts.
“In 24 hours, I met with my counterparts from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan,” he said. “It's about putting Lebanon back at the table to be able to shape this regional effort and come up with harmonised rules and regulations. It's about reopening Lebanon for business. And digital business is where it’s going to happen.”
There are ongoing talks with Lebanon to join DCO as a member state.
Partnerships with big tech
Mr Shehadi said he had meetings with major tech companies in Dubai and that several partnerships would be announced in due course.
Last year, Lebanon signed an agreement with Microsoft to support start-ups and provide AI training, with hopes of the company reopening offices in Beirut.
The tech giant Oracle also signed a co-operation agreement with Lebanon’s Technology and Artificial Intelligence Ministry to train 50,000 Lebanese in digital and AI skills. The partnership was the first formal agreement between a major American company and a Lebanese state institution in more than two decades.
“The big tech companies offer an opportunity to leverage Lebanon’s talent pool in data sciences, artificial intelligence and related digital technologies. We have the potential to lead in biotechnology and health tech through the integration of digital technology and bio sciences. This is an opportunity Lebanon cannot miss,” said Mr Shehadi.
He confirmed Arab interest in investing in Lebanon, highlighting the country’s ability to generate innovative ideas and turn them into successful companies.
‘Not a luxury’
Lebanon continues to face security challenges as Israel still occupies several positions it considers strategically vital in the south, and carries out daily strikes in Lebanon on what it says are Hezbollah targets, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between it and Hezbollah. The militant group is now under heavy US pressure to disarm.
Mr Shehadi said security remained the government’s top priority and had improved over the past year, adding that authorities were also focused on reforming the banking sector and strengthening judicial independence to restore law and order.
However, he said these priorities did not mean that other issues critical to the country’s survival, including digital transformation, should be sidelined.
He stated that his mandate was to ensure technology and AI became national priorities and described them as essential to safeguarding the future of Lebanon’s economy, rather than simply another technological advancement.
“It's not a luxury, it's not yet another technology,” he said. “We traditionally succeeded in services, health care, higher education and the creative economy. All of that is being upended and challenged by artificial intelligence.”
Mr Shehadi said digital transformation was both an economic priority and a security imperative. He said sectors such as banking and money transfers were linked to national security, noting that complying with anti-money laundering regulations required digitising processes, corporate registries and tracking systems. He added that border security and other areas also relied on digital infrastructure.
“It’s all digital today. Our job is to have the infrastructure, the talent and the resources to focus on that and to make it a reality, not just nice ideas you hear about in other countries,” he said.
